Nick Sirianni-Jalen Hurts Relationship ‘Fractured’ In 2023

Nick Sirianni will enter his fourth Eagles season in an interesting place. The Philadelphia HC narrowly missed winning a Super Bowl in his second season, doing so after the team made a surprise playoff appearance in 2021. Last season’s undoing, however, pushed the former OC into firing rumors. Though, those appear to have been slightly overblown.

Rumors connecting the Eagles and Bill Belichick have circulated for months, with the legendary HC — currently preparing for a few media gigs for the 2024 season — believed to be interested should the job open in 2025. As of now, Sirianni is not exactly on the NFL’s hottest seat. But the temperature of the former Colts coordinator’s chair is nevertheless interesting.

Sirianni’s relationship with Jalen Hurts will play a key part of his post-2024 future in Philly, and the sides look to have work to do to. During the 2023 season, the relationship fractured, a source informed ESPN.com’s Tim McManus. While both sides have attempted to mend fences this offseason, this cornerstone relationship’s status may be the top Eagles storyline following an ugly late-season collapse that involved a defensive coordinator demotion and eventually led Sirianni to clean house and hire a new OC-DC tandem. Vic Fangio will be in charge of repairing a broken Eagles defense, but Sirianni — as the team went through with an onslaught of paydays on offense — will obviously remain pivotal as a non-play-calling HC.

Giving up play-calling duties midway through his first Eagles season, Sirianni nevertheless prompted some of his players to wonder who exactly was calling the shots on offense last season. A disconnect surrounding Hurts wanting more authority on offense, in an attempt made by the quarterback and OC Brian Johnson to evolve the scheme Sirianni brought with him from Indianapolis, was one of the main reasons behind the disconnect between HC and QB, McManus reports. Sirianni overruled Johnson at points, and a coach Hurts knew since childhood became a one-and-done. Ownership, along with GM Howie Roseman, is believed to have played perhaps the lead role in Johnson’s firing.

After showing significant improvement in his second starter season and dueling with Patrick Mahomes in Super Bowl LVII, Hurts took a step backward during a season that involved a leg injury. While the recently extended QB did not miss any time, he saw his interception count balloon from six to 15 and his yards per attempt drop from 8.0 to 7.2. Accusations of Hurts tuning out Sirianni and the former second-round pick playing “hero ball” surfaced, per McManus, as the Eagles’ tailspin featured them tumbling from 10-1 to being on the wrong end of a wild-card blowout.

We heard before the Eagles’ loss in Tampa that Hurts was dissatisfied with the offense’s direction. This reached a strange point in which he reached out to Don Martindale before the wild-card matchup. Hurts confirmed (via PHLY’s Zach Berman) McManus’ account of a Martindale conversation, which occurred after the two-year Giants DC bolted from his New York gig. The effort did not exactly help, and the Eagles soon hired Kellen Moore — prior to signing Saquon Barkley — to fix the offense.

In an effort to keep his scheme in line with what had worked in the past, Sirianni became more hands-on compared to his role during Steichen’s time calling plays and went through with one-on-one meetings with his quarterback. Those appear to have been counterproductive, given the reported state of his relationship with Hurts by season’s end.

Hurts declined to answer a question about Sirianni’s openness to change the offense this offseason. Although it is early, McManus adds Moore is receiving more autonomy by comparison to Johnson, whom the Eagles promoted after two seasons as QBs coach. Moore has considerably more experience, having called plays in Dallas during Jason Garrett‘s tenure and from 2020-22 under Mike McCarthy. Moore’s one-and-done Chargers OC stay was less memorable. Johnson has since caught on with the Commanders, being hired as Dan Quinn‘s pass-game coordinator.

Considering Sirianni’s tenuous grip on the Philly HC job, his Hurts dealings will be a running talking point this year. Hurts’ performance in Moore’s offense will go a long way toward determining Sirianni’s 2025 status. The Eagles are highly unlikely to bail on Hurts the way they punted on the Carson Wentz setup less than two years after authorizing his extension, but the team — given its investments on offense — will certainly need to see a bounce-back effort from its high-priced passer. Otherwise, another firing involving an Eagles Super Bowl leader is likely on tap.